Level closures for ski boots are well known in the art, and such closures customarily consist of a lever attached directly to one side of a vamp and a coacting loop attached directly to the opposite side of the vamp for selective engagement with teeth of the lever.
Ski boot closures are also known comprising a lever attached to one vamp side, and provided with a loop which engages an element projecting outwardly from the opposite vamp side.
A common feature of the prior art lever closures is the placement of the lever at the front of the boot to exert a drawing action on a rigid or flexible loop which forms the connecting element between the sides of the vamp. When the connecting element is tensioned by lever action, the two sides of the vamp are drawn together to close the boot. In practice, in the prior art, several closing levers and coacting loops are provided on the front of the boot.
A serious disadvantage of the above-noted prior art lever closures is that the levers, due to their frontal positions, may snag on slalom pickets or on other projections existing along the descent track. Moreover, the frontal levers may injure the skier or other skiers in case of a fall or accidental crash.
A further disadvantage inherent in front mounted closure levers is that the draw action of the lever on the closure loop is localized, affecting only a limited area of the vamp, with a consequent uneven distribution of tensions, which is not satisfactory in terms of modern-day requirements.
This invention seeks to overcome all of these prior art deficiencies in ski boot lever closures by placing a draw lever at the rear of the ski boot leg portion for cooperation with a flexible element such as a cable whose ends are attached to a tension strap extending transversely across the top of the instep. The cable may engage side lugs on the boot located between the lever and tension strap near the elevation of the sole, or alternatively the cable may be crossed beneath the sole in this region. In either case, shifting of the lever to the boot closing position draws the tension strap tightly down on the instep portion of the boot to effect a very secure closing of the vamp with an even distribution of tension forces.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.